


The Sun Behind the Clouds

by kinkywonn



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Angst with a Happy Ending, Feels, Heartbreak, I keep putting him in angst situations, I promise to write a lighter one soon, I’m sorry Minhyuk stans, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 16:55:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14217579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinkywonn/pseuds/kinkywonn
Summary: The scent of someone’s cologne causes Minhyuk’s mood to spiral downward in the last hour of his and Kihyun’s shift. Luckily, Kihyun is more than willing to listen to Minhyuk’s story.





	The Sun Behind the Clouds

Minhyuk’s shift started out normally, he might have been in a bit of a moody… mood that day, but he was still able to be a cheerful employee and greet his customers with the intensity of the sun. A sun behind clouds, but that wasn’t important. His mood plummeted in the last hour of his shift, when he was alone with his co-worker, Kihyun, and the number of customers wandering into the store trickled down as the night got older. What plummeted his mood was the scent of a cologne that one of the customers had been wearing. His heart physically ached at the memories and feelings that the scent brought up from the depths of his mind and heart. Kihyun had been walking around the front of the store and collecting the subtotals from the other registers, trying to talk to Minhyuk.

 

“You should have seen the look on Changkyun’s face when Jooheon told him that story. He looked _scandalised_.” Kihyun was laughing, and Minhyuk only gave him a sad smile. Kihyun took notice of this and walked over to Minhyuk once he collected all the subtotals. 

 

“Hey, what’s gotten you so sad?” Kihyun asked, walking over to lean on Minhyuk’s register. Minhyuk hesitated, not wanting to delve into those particular memories, but Kihyun looked so earnest and concerned that Minhyuk felt the _need_ to tell Kihyun what happened seven months ago. 

 

“It…” Minhyuk took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. “Seven months ago, I had a friends with benefits situation with one of my friends that I studied with at university. He was – is – beautiful, and he always wore this cologne. It smelled amazing, it did then, anyway. But one of the biggest unspoken rules about friends with benefits, is don’t catch feelings. It never ends well.  
“I caught feelings, and I hid them really well, but the feelings only got stronger the more time I spent with him. But then, I went away for a week during the break, you know, when I went to visit my family for that week about two months ago?”

 

“Yeah, I remember that. You came back looking well rested and cheerful, you were happy.” Kihyun replied, beginning to sweep the floor. 

 

“I miss that, feeling well rested and cheerful. University is sucking the _soul_ out of me again.” Minhyuk laughed, shaking his head. “Anyway, during that time away, we also sexted, and it was great. But after I came back, we never hung out. We didn’t have sex. Nothing. We spoke everyday, but that was about it. Then one afternoon, on our way back to the dorms, he tells me he’s been seeing someone. They’ve been on a few dates. And that he can’t do anything with me anymore.” Minhyuk had to stop and take a deep breath, tilting his head back to stop the tears from falling. 

 

“You don’t have to keep going.” Kihyun said softly, placing a hand on top of Minhyuk’s gently.

 

“No, it’s fine, I have to finish the story.” Minhyuk flipped over his hand and took Kihyun’s in his, smiling slightly when the other didn’t pull away. “The night he told me, I couldn’t stop crying. It hurt so much because I loved him so much. I cried for a week, I didn’t go and study with him anymore, I didn’t want to meet the person who had captivated his heart more than I did. It felt like he had been leading me on this whole time, and that made it feel worse. I even sent out a massive text message to him, explaining this. He apologised, and everything was kind of okay after that.” Minhyuk finally let the tears fall, they were beginning to blur his vision. 

 

“Oh, Min…” 

 

“But now, every time I get a whiff of that cologne, the feelings come rushing back and it’s making it so much harder to forget about him and move on. Kihyun, I can’t take feeling like this every time I smell it. It’s killing me inside.” Minhyuk looked into Kihyun’s eyes, seeing all the emotions swimming in them.

 

“If… If someone was willing to take those feelings away, to make new ones appear in their place… would you be willing to accept that?” Kihyun asked hesitantly, squeezing Minhyuk’s hand softly. Minhyuk looked down at their joined hands, then back into Kihyun’s scared, but hopeful, eyes. 

 

“I… yeah. Yeah, I would be. Are you… are you asking me out? In a very roundabout, Kihyun way?” Minhyuk asked, sniffling and wiping his eyes with his free hand. Kihyun pulled out a tissue and passed it to Minhyuk. 

 

“Yes. Yes I am. Minhyuk… You are one of the most attractive human beings on this planet, the most attractive person I know. Both inside and out. You’re always there to help someone in need, even when you’re absolutely swamped with other duties here. Even after you’ve just had a customer yell at you for absolutely no reason, you manage to smile back at them and solve their problem, then go ahead and help our coworkers and customers with other problems, only breaking down once we’ve closed. 

 

“I’ve seen you around the city and the university you attend, you help seniors cross the road, with their groceries and I’ve heard you mention that you go and visit the senior centre on your days off to talk to them and play games with them. I’ve seen you at the hospital too, reading to the kids in the children’s ward and by _god_ , that’s what attracted me to you in the first place. When you were reading to my little sister while she was there a few months ago.” Kihyun finished, rubbing circles on Minhyuk’s knuckles. Minhyuk was blushing a deep red, smiling bashfully too. 

 

“I didn’t know you knew that.” Minhyuk whispered. 

 

“W-well, I kind of overheard you talking to Jooheon about it, since he visits his grandma every Thursday and he sees you there too. And you do tend to talk about the stories you tell the kids every Sunday, about the kids you saw and how happy they were that you could read stories to them. Sometimes they come in here with their parents and they thank you for coming in and reading to them, how much of a highlight it was for them. You’re such a beautiful person Minhyuk, and I don’t understand how others don’t see that.” Kihyun rambled, making Minhyuk blush even darker. 

 

“Kihyun… thank you. Honestly. You don’t know how much that love confession means to me. I didn’t think you paid this much attention to me.” Minhyuk said, smiling brightly at Kihyun. Kihyun blushed darkly, ducking his head. 

 

“How could I not pay attention to you? My eyes are drawn to you the moment you enter a room.”

 

“Okay, are you guys done being sappy gross people so I can buy my dinner for the night? Some of us are actually lonely and have to cook for themselves.” Changkyun’s voice startled the both of them, making them both jump.

 

“Sorry Kyun! Wow, instant ramen, who would have guessed…” Minhyuk chuckled, making Changkyun roll his eyes.

 

“Just because you’ve got a date after work, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.” 

 

“Aw, hasn’t Jooheon asked you out yet?” Minhyuk cooed.

 

“N-No! And he won’t, stop saying that. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me like that.” Changkyun’s cheeks were tinted pink.

 

“Are you sure? He talks about you a lot whenever he visits his grandma.” Minhyuk replied, taking Changkyun’s money.

 

“R-Really? Should I try asking him out instead?” Changkyun asked, taking the change and his food.

 

“I think you should. He’s the type who would wait and wait until someone asked him out before he ever thought to ask someone out. Nothing could go wrong. Unless you use a really stupid pickup line, then we can’t help you.” Minhyuk replied.

 

“But this is Jooheon we’re talking about, he’d love those stupid pickup lines as much as Changkyun would.” Kihyun pointed out, sweeping the floor behind their registers.

 

“True.” 

 

“Whatever you guys, I’m not hearing anymore of this slander towards my pickup lines.” Changkyun said, walking away as Kihyun and Minhyuk’s laughter echoed around the silent store.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise Minhyuk stans, I keep putting him in angsty situations. But at least this time it actually has a happy ending!  
> Thanks for reading!  
> (I like comments and kudos, they make my day.)


End file.
